1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a branch connection accessory adapted to make the connection between first trunking which is fixed to a vertical support and second trunking which rests on a horizontal support.
The first trunking can be a molding or a baseboard and the second trunking is generally of the kind which passes through a floor. However, the second trunking could equally well be fixed to a ceiling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One prior art branch connection accessory of the above kind includes a closure plate for the first trunking which has at its base an opening to establish communication between the interior spaces of the first and second trunking and a canopy extending horizontally from that opening adapted to cover locally the closure cover section of the second trunking.
The main drawback of the above kind of branch connection accessory is that the opening provided at the base of the closure plate has a fixed height because the canopy is formed in one piece with the closure plate. This kind of closure plate can therefore not be adapted to suit different trunking configurations and in particular cannot be adapted to suit different relative positions of the first and second trunking.
To comply with applicable safety standards in respect of electrical installations it is sometimes necessary for the first trunking, which is intended to be fixed to a vertical support, to rest on means for raising it so that it is at a particular distance from the floor.
This is the case when the trunking is intended to route electrical conductors having a conductive core surrounded by a single insulative sheath.
On the other hand, the first trunking can be positioned near the floor, without using means for raising it, if it is intended for routing double-insulated electrical cables.
Thus in an electrical installation adjacent vertical and horizontal trunking can have two different relative positions, a xe2x80x9cclose togetherxe2x80x9d position when the vertical trunking does not rest on raising means and a xe2x80x9cfar apartxe2x80x9d position when raising means are used.
At present it is necessary to provide a specific branch connection accessory to make the connection between the vertical and horizontal trunking for each of the relative positions described above.
Using two different branch connection accessories adds to the cost of an electrical installation.
To remedy the above drawback, the present invention proposes a branch connection accessory for establishing a connection between first trunking which is fixed to a vertical support and second trunking which rests on a horizontal support, the accessory including a closure plate for closing the first trunking provided at its base with a communication opening to establish communication between the respective interior spaces of the first trunking and the second trunking, which communication opening is delimited laterally by legs each having at least one removable portion so that the height of the communication opening can be adapted to the relative position of the first trunking and the second trunking, in which branch connection accessory a connection accessory is attached to the closure plate to close the communication opening from the outside and includes a canopy adapted to cover locally a closure cover section of the second trunking.
Accordingly, by removing one or more removable portions of the legs laterally delimiting the communication opening of the closure plate of the branch connection accessory according to the invention the height of the communication opening can be adapted to suit the relative position of the vertical and horizontal trunking and in particular the height of the opening can be adjusted so that the cross-section area of the connection between the vertical and horizontal trunking remains constant, whether or not raising means are used when installing the first trunking.
Thanks to the invention, it is then no longer necessary to provide specific branch connection accessories for different relative positions of the vertical and horizontal trunking. Instead a single accessory is sufficient and is adapted as required by the installer.
According to one particularly advantageous feature of the branch connection accessory according to the invention the communication opening of the closure plate has a horizontal top edge with vertical slideways at its ends for slidably mounting the connection accessory.
This has the advantage that the same connection accessory can be used for different heights of the communication opening in the closure plate, and can be mounted blind by sliding it in the two vertical slideways on the closure plate. It is therefore always correctly positioned facing the communication opening to close it correctly.
The two vertical slideways facilitate mounting the connection accessory on the closure plate, which saves time for the installer.
According to another advantageous feature of the branch connection accessory according to the invention it has a horizontal rim on the horizontal top edge of the communication opening of the closure plate to provide a connection between the vertical slideways and form a support for the connection accessory.
Other non-limiting advantageous features of the branch connection accessory according to the invention are as follows:
each leg delimiting laterally the communication opening of the closure plate includes a plurality of removable portions;
the closure plate has attachment means on its rear face for attaching it to a base section of the first trunking;
the attachment means include a hook near the top edge of the closure plate which hooks onto the base section of the first trunking;
the attachment means include a hook on the rear face of each leg of the closure plate;
the closure plate has in its upper part at least one removable portion so that its height can be adapted to suit the width of the first trunking and the removable portion or each removable portion has on its rear face near a line of weakness attachment means for attaching it to a base section of the first trunking; the attachment means can include an upwardly-oriented hook;
the closure plate has a plurality of vertical walls on its rear face spanning the top edge of the communication opening, oriented at 90 degrees to the plane of the rear face and delimiting between them ducts into which mutually-isolated electrical conductors or cables are inserted;
the connection accessory has a plurality of vertical walls on a rear face facing toward the communication opening, oriented transversely to the plane of the opening and delimiting between them ducts into which mutually-isolated electrical conductors or cables are inserted;
the closure plate has top and bottom edges that cover part of lateral flanges of a base section of the first trunking;
the closure plate has upstanding lateral edges; and
the closure plate and the connection accessory are each molded in one piece from plastics material.
The following description, which is given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are provided by way of non-limiting example, explains in what the invention consists and how it can be put into effect.